Steven Gillespie

Steven Gillespie (born 4 June 1985) is an English semi-professional footballer who plays as a striker.

Steven Gillespie
Personal information
Full name Steven Gillespie
Date of birth (1985-06-04) 4 June 1985
Place of birth Liverpool, England
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
2001–2004 Liverpool
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2006 Bristol City 12 (1)
2005 → Cheltenham Town (loan) 12 (5)
2005–2006 → Cheltenham Town (loan) 9 (3)
2006–2008 Cheltenham Town 67 (21)
2008–2012 Colchester United 98 (25)
2012–2014 Fleetwood Town 22 (4)
2013–2014 → Cheltenham Town (loan) 4 (1)
2014 Bristol Rovers 13 (1)
2014–2015 Altrincham 22 (1)
2015–2017 Warrington Town 0 (0)
2017 → Skelmersdale United (loan) 11 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:35, 18 May 2017 (UTC)

Career

Early career

Born in Liverpool, Merseyside, Gillespie began his career as a trainee for Liverpool.

Gillespie began his career with Liverpool having carved out a name for himself as a goalscorer in schoolboy football. He broke Robbie Fowler's goal-scoring record for Liverpool Schools; he later had his record broken by Wayne Rooney.

Bristol City

In 2004, having had few opportunities at Liverpool, he was released and was quickly signed by Bristol City, of League One.

Cheltenham Town

He continued to find himself without many chances and later in 2004 was sent on-loan to Cheltenham Town of League Two, where he scored four goals in five appearances. Gillespie once again joined Cheltenham on loan at the end of the 2004–05 season, and again in the first half of the 2005–2006 season, scoring a further five goals. He signed a permanent two-and-a-half-year contract in January 2006, for an undisclosed fee.

Despite signing a new contract in August 2007, Gillespie handed in a transfer request in the summer of 2008 after having an impressive season with Cheltenham as they finished in mid-table in League One.[1] Less than a week after handing in the request, Gillespie was sold to fellow League One club Colchester United for a fee of £400,000.[2]

Colchester United

On 7 July 2008, Gillespie signed for Colchester following a successful season with Cheltenham in which he scored 16 goals. It was a club record signing, as the U's looked to bounce back to the Championship.

Unfortunately for both Gillespie and Colchester, however, his time with the club was dogged by injuries from shortly after his arrival, despite having made a promising start with three goals from his first three outings.[3]

His first season in Essex continued to be stop-start and, although when he managed to play he continued to show his natural, goalscoring instinct and displayed this in scoring five goals in his little time spent on the pitch, he struggled to rack up game time and barely managed a ninety-minute performance. This was compounded when, in the 5–0 home win over Carlisle he managed just sixteen minutes in his return from injury before having to go off injured once more.[4]

The season was a huge shame for Gillespie who would have wished to make a much more impressive impact on his arrival as the club's record signing. Under Aidy Boothroyd in the 2009/10 season he struggled to break into the team despite seemingly having gotten over the worst of his injury troubles and it was not until the final season of his contract that Gillespie's ability finally came to the fore.

With John Ward now the U's manager, his former Cheltenham Town boss eased him back into the U's team after the Christmas period and Gillespie flourished, bagging nine goals in ten starts as well as having a legitimate goal chalked out in a 0–1 defeat at Charlton.[5]

Gillespie committed his future to Colchester for another two years on 17 May 2011 and was given the number nine shirt for the 2011–12 season. During the campaign, he finished with 11 goals in League One, which was his best return in a football season for Colchester. He finished with 12 goals in all competitions.[6]

Fleetwood Town

Gillespie signed for newly promoted League Two outfit Fleetwood Town on 18 June 2012.[7] On 30 January 2014, Gillespie was released from Fleetwood Town.[8]

Return to Cheltenham Town

Gillespie returned to Cheltenham Town on loan from Fleetwood on 15 August 2013, making his second debut for the club two days later in their 3–1 home defeat to Plymouth Argyle.

Bristol Rovers

On 6 February 2014, Gillespie joined up with John Ward again, following spells at Cheltenham Town and Colchester United. He scored his first goal for Rovers with an 88th-minute equaliser against Scunthorpe United after coming on as a 53rd minute substitution for the injured Alan Gow.[9] He made his first start for the club 1 month later in a goalless draw with Southend United.[10]

Altrincham

Gillespie joined newly promoted Conference Premier team Altrincham on 19 July 2014.[11]

Skelmersdale United

Gillespie joined Northern Premier League team Skelmersdale United on loan on 12 February 2017.[12] He made 11 appearances as well as being a part of the United coaching setup.

Career statistics
As of 19 July 2014.[13]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Continental Other[14] Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Bristol City 2004–05 801010–20120
Cheltenham Town (loan) 2004–05 1250000–00125
Bristol City 2005–06 411000–0051
Cheltenham Town (loan) 2005–06 930000–32125
Total 3392010–524111
Cheltenham Town 2005–06 720000–0072
2006–07 2350010–00245
2007–08 37142200–104016
Total 67212210–107123
Colchester United 2008–09 1740011–20205
2009–10 3013100–00332
2010–11 1890000–10199
2011–12 32111011–103512
Total 98254122–4010828
Fleetwood Town2012–13 2241010-10254
Cheltenham Town (loan)2013 400000-1252
Total 2641010-22306
Bristol Rovers 2013–14 1310000–00101
Total 1310000-00101
Altrincham 2014–15 000000–0000
Career total 2346093520012226069

Honours

Cheltenham Town

References
  1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cheltenham_town/7487059.stm Gillespie demands Cheltenham exit, BBC Sport, 3 July 2008
  2. http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,1841_3790271,00.html%5B%5D Colchester seal Gillespie deal, TEAMtalk, 7 July 2008
  3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/colchester_united/7587915.stm Gillespie frustrated by injuries, BBC Sport, 29 August 2008
  4. http://www.cu-fc.com/page/MatchReport/0,,10424~44417,00.html Archived 23 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Colchester 5–0 Carlisle, Colchester United F.C., 25 October 2008
  5. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/colchester_united/9385022.stm Charlton-Colchester goal mix-up will be investigated, BBC Sport, 2 February 2011
  6. http://www.cu-fc.com/page/News/0,,10424~2361755,00.html%5B%5D? Steven Gillespie, Col U's Number Nine, Colchester United F.C., 17 May 2011
  7. "Fleetwood Town sign Colchester United striker Steven Gillespie". BBC Sport. 18 June 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  8. "Town release four". Fleetwood Town FC. 30 January 2014.
  9. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25532563
  10. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26572805
  11. "First Team". Altrincham F.C. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
  12. "Skem Seal Gillespie Loan". Skelmersdale United F.C. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  13. "Steven Gillespie Career Stats". Soccerbase. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  14. Includes other competitive competitions, including the Football League Trophy and Football League play-offs
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